Billie (and the Cottonwood Art Festival)

"Billie"  (pastel, 10x8 inches)  $395 framed

From my stock of bison pics out of Yellowstone. I tried, but just couldn't identify this one as a young female, or a young male, so I'm calling him/her Billie the Bison.

Billie will be with me this coming weekend (May 6 & 7, 2017) at the Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson, TX. Hope to see you there!

Some progress shots:
I thought it was time to describe my underpainting process again, for any of you who are new to my blog. I start with a piece of Gatorboard primed with a single layer of gold-toned pastel primer. This is Golden (brand) Quiacridone Nickel Azo Gold fluid acrylic color mixed into Golden (brand) Fine Pumice Gel at about a 1/4 (color/gel) ratio. I make my drawing on the single-primed board with a pastel pencil in a medium value warm color (like sepia) so that I can just see my drawing when applying the next layers, and so the color harmonizes with the gold primer and won't get muddy.

This is with the second layer of gold primer. The gel is clear, so the color mixture is semi-transparent, and gets darker on each application.

Then (below) I added Art Spectrum (brand) Pastel Primer in the terra cotta color. When I plan to use the black primer for black fur, as I did on this one, I like this warm color underneath, and to establish a mid-value. (Sometimes I loose my drawing at this step. I'll reestablish key areas of the drawing if I need to.)

Lastly, I used the Art Spectrum (brand) Pastel Primer in the black color. I lay it into the darkest areas, then scrub and dry-brush it into the medium values of the terra cotta to continue the value scale and add more depth to the monochromatic underpainting. The Art Spectrum primers are more opaque than the Golden pumice gel, but still have a bit of transparency to them, which allows for some building of depth in these tones. I did a second application of the black to achieve those darker areas.

 Then it's ready... for the pastel!

 Thanks for reading! Please share!

.